She was really confused at this point. You see, she was making the behavior ten times worse. As soon as the doorbell rang she was right on her dog’s heels. Once at the door it became a verbal and physical wrestling match.

She was yelling and trying to grab her dog to calm him down which was like throwing gas on a fire.

I explained to her that the doorbell is the highlight of the day for most dogs and their excitement level spikes through the roof.

When a dog is in a high level of excitement or agitation, any form of attention is going to make the behavior worse.

Information can not be processed when the dog is going bananas. Most people at this point look at it like it’s bad behavior and feel that they have to punish.

The way we get information (training) into the dog’s melon is when they are calm.

Which is a good reason to avoid choke and prong collars during training.

Here is what I had her do. I had my helper ring the bell and had her stand in the background without looking, touching or talking to her dog.

The doorbell rang and the normal chaos happened. Her dog bolted for the door and began his out of control behavior.

Then, then, then…..after about 30 seconds he stopped and turned his head looking for mom.

He actually left the door and walked over to her. I pointed out that NOW we can start to take steps to teach a different greeting because he (and her) were calm.